An Aboriginal woman has alleged she was subjected to torture and inhumane treatment while being held on remand in the ACT’s only adult prison.
Ngunnawal woman Julliane Williams will allege in court this week that she was treated in a ‘cruel’ and ‘inhuman’ way by prison officers who pinned her down, forcibly strip-searched her while holding a knifne and ignored her warnings that she couldn’t breathe and was experiencing chest pains.
The ACT supreme court will on Monday begin hearing the allegations about the incident which occurred in early 2021.
Handheld footage of the incident has been kept by the territory government and has not been released to the public.
The incident occurred after Williams was moved to the jail’s crisis support unit due to her distress at a decision that she was not allowed to leave to attend her grandmother’s funeral.
In 2021 the ACT’s Inspector of Correctional Services released a report finding the incident did not comply with the territory’s Human Rights Act.
